


Grounding

by DownToTheSea



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, falling, near-drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownToTheSea/pseuds/DownToTheSea
Summary: Helen's confrontation with Adam ends in disaster. Missing scene/slight AU of For King and Country.





	Grounding

**Author's Note:**

> I'm doing the Bad Things Happen Bingo challenge on Tumblr! This was written for the Falling from a Great Height trope and the prompt: "Teslen...Helen falls?"

Helen’s voice was still echoing through the canyon, Adam’s body no longer visible as it disappeared behind an outcropping of rock into the abyss below. Anger and guilt bubbled up in  her chest, and she stood there staring down at the river long after he was gone, ignoring the wind whipping loose strands of her hair around her face. Her hand clenched on the shotgun she still held.

At last, she turned to walk away, but at that moment a massive gust of wind sprang up, throwing her off balance. She stumbled back, lowering her head and glancing behind her to make sure she wouldn’t set her foot down on thin air. Another powerful blast hammered into her and she was forced back another step, cursing under her breath. Thankfully, it relented after that and Helen straightened, taking in a deep breath of relief.

Then the cliff crumbled away underneath her.

She let out a cry, trying to scramble forward, but she was already falling. Even as the world tipped back and spun sickeningly around her, Helen realized she must have stepped back just a little too far, onto a segment of rock with insufficient support underneath.

The cliffside rushed past her in a blur of color and air whistling past her ears, and Helen stifled the instinctive urge to scream as loudly as she could. She still had a chance. If she could just hit the river instead of the jutting cliffside, perhaps she could make it. She tried to twist in midair, to aim her body away from the rocks and towards the churning water beneath.

It half-worked; it was a straight shot now, but it had taken her too long to orient herself. There was no time left to fight the wind and gravity to straighten her body into a clean dive.

She slammed into the river with an impact that felt almost as great as if she would have hit the ground, pain screaming through her body. The water closed over her head and the current swept her away, turning her end-over-end again until she had no idea which way was up, even if she could have found the strength in her battered arms to swim for the surface.

Through the murky water she saw a dark mass approaching fast, but she couldn’t move to avoid it; the water threw her against a wall of rock. Her mouth was jarred open by the impact and river water filled her mouth and lungs, until finally the world went dark.

 

Hacking coughs jolted through her body and forced Helen awake, though once she was she wished she could have remained unconscious. Her entire body throbbed and her throat and lungs felt like they were on fire, each racking cough sparking a fresh wave of pain. Her eyes burned when she opened them.

She was facedown on the gravelly shore of the river, the rocks scraping at her skin. Gradually, she became aware of a hand stroking her back, and a voice she recognized, although she didn’t often hear that crooning tone from him.

“It’s alright, Helen,” Nikola whispered. “Keep breathing.”

“Thank you for that – ” She coughed. “Brilliant advice, Nik– ” Another cough. “–ola. Whatever would I do without you?” Cautiously, she rolled to her side and then her back, looking up at him kneeling next to her.

“Well, you seemed to be in need of encouragement on that score for a little while there, and I was rather worried.” He was soaked to the bone, the light beige of his suit turned to muddy brown and his perfectly smoothed-back hair now plastered every which way and dripping down into his face and collar.

He didn’t  _ look  _ worried. Actually, he was grinning at her like he had never been so happy in his life. The hand that had been on her back had slipped to the ground, but he moved it to wrap his fingers gently around her arm, thumb moving in circles over her sleeve.

Helen struggled into a sitting position, her head spinning. It was too reminiscent of the dizzying plunge earlier, and a shudder ran through her. Nikola’s fingers tightened almost imperceptibly. She made no attempt to remove them; it was rather comforting to have that solid point of contact.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Helen only nodded. “May I ask how you arrived so fortuitously on the scene?”

“I heard you,” was all he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t see you anywhere near.”

He gave her a lazy smile. “The advantages of knowing a vampire, my dear. I was several miles away with Nigel and James, following a false trail laid for us by that nasty little – ”

“Nikola,” she interrupted, quietly. “He’s dead.”

“Hmm. I can’t say I’ll be mourning his loss.”

Helen sighed. “And where’s John?”

“He teleported off just before you had your confrontation with Adam. I assumed he had gone to help you, but apparently I was mistaken.” The amusement in Nikola’s voice was hard and bitter, and the light seemed to have gone out of his eyes. He let go of her arm abruptly.

Getting to his feet, he offered her a hand up. “We should go back to the others. You need medical attention, and I daresay we’ll all be wanting to claim our rewards.”

“Reward,” Helen repeated, taking his hand and standing, gratified that her legs only wobbled a little. She cast a heavy look at the river behind them. It didn’t feel like a victory.

Nikola offered her his arm. She glanced down while winding it through hers, and when she looked up she found him watching her with a strange expression: distant and sad, yet unmistakably tender.

She opened her mouth and realized she had no idea what she wanted to say. So she settled for, “Thank you, Nikola.”

Whatever emotion had rendered her speechless seemed to be contagious. Nikola looked like he was going to say something, but only jerked his head in an awkward nod, blinking quite hard. Odd; she thought most of the excess water was already gone.

Leaning slightly against him, Helen began walking up the slope to rejoin the rest of the Five.


End file.
